An
economist and government employee whose early
experiences with Whittaker Chambers were similar
to Alger Hiss's version of events. In the early
1930s, Silverman was working for the Railroad
Retirement Board in Washington D.C., when he
met a freelance writer named "David Chambers"
(Whittaker Chambers). Chambers told him he wanted
to write about Silverman's government work.
Chambers was a charming companion, but at a
series of lunch meetings he began borrowing
money from Silverman and failed to pay it back.

Silverman
told this story to the grand jury (he and Hiss
were unaware of each other's testimony). He
also pointed to inconsistencies in Chambers'
story regarding the gift of the rugs to Hiss,
Harry Dexter White
and Silverman himself.Click
here to learn
more about the rugs.

Several
deciphered "Venona" cables suggest
that during World War II, Silverman, then working
for the Army Air Force, may have cooperated
with Russian intelligence agents in some fashion.
The truth of these charges has not been established.
For more on the Venona cables, click
here.